Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger
36
“It’s been two hours,”Adrianne said.
“It’s still early,” Cassius murmured.
“Cassius is right,” Julia told the sorceress. “Hunting takes time and patience.”
They were back in the sewers under Bayview Park.
Moonlight stabbed through the metal grille high above them, the pale beams dancing down the middle of the confluence chamber piercing the ever-present shadows. Two slabs of steak glistened on the stone altar in the middle of the sunken basin. The meat had been laced with a trace of the Reaper Seed from the Santa Cruz sample Maggie had obtained. All they had to do now was wait for a Lucifugous demon to hopefully take the bait.
Adrianne made a face. “Yeah, well, you guys can keep your hunting to yourselves. I like my meat prepped and marinated, on a platter from a grocery store.”
“I thought you two went camping loads when you were going out,” Zach murmured to Bailey.
“Hunting was never involved,” Bailey said. “Well, not the kind we’re doing right now. We hunted for lots of other stuff in the sack—ouch!”
Adrianne had zapped him in the ribs with her magic.
Morgan frowned. “You clowns realize silence is of the essence here, right?”
Bailey winced and rubbed his chest as he indicated the shimmering shadows around them. “Don’t worry, boss. This concealment spell is soundproof too.”
“That’s beside the point.”
A faint stirring in the air currents coursing through the sewers brought a familiar scent to Cassius’s nostrils some half an hour later.
“Here he comes,” he warned.
It took the others longer to detect the sulfurous taint where they crouched behind Bailey’s concealment magic. A dark shape appeared in the mouth of the tunnel to the north. It stopped and lurked in the shadows for a moment, its head darting about as it sniffed the chamber.
The Lucifugous demon’s stone club scraped across the concrete floor when he finally moved into the light, his gimlet eyes scanning his surroundings warily. His gaze skimmed over the area where Cassius and the others hid as he climbed down into the basin. He made his way to the altar and hesitated before probing a steak with a stubby finger.
Adrianne made a gagging noise as the demon stuck his finger in his mouth and sucked it clean.
The Lucifugous rumbled in approval, dropped his club, and grabbed both steaks. Hungry slurps and gulps echoed around the chamber as he wolfed down the meat.
Cassius could tell from his physique that he hadn’t eaten for some time.
“Now!” Morgan barked.
Bailey dropped the concealment spell.
Morgan rose into the air and cast a tempest that wrapped around the surprised demon, lifting him off the ground. Julia sent the stone club flying to the other end of the chamber with a swing of her arm.
Crimson flashed in the demon’s eyes, fear and anger twisting his misshapen face. A pulse of darkness exploded above them as he started to manipulate the shadows.
“It’s okay.” Cassius walked over to the demon, the seraphic energy emanating from his eyes and skin obliterating the mantle of darkness forming around the chamber. “We won’t hurt you. We just want to talk.”
The demon snarled and grunted as he struggled against the lassoes of wind binding his limbs to his body, too far gone in his terror to be reasoned with.
“Release him,” Cassius said.
“Are you insane?!” Adrianne gasped. “He’ll go on a rampage!”
Cassius’s gaze found Morgan. “Let him go. I’ll be okay.”
The Aerial hesitated before obeying Cassius’s command, his eyes full of unease.
The Lucifugous’s feet touched the ground a moment later. The bands of wind holding him prisoner vanished. He roared and charged toward Cassius.
“Stop.”
Light bloomed across the confluence chamber.
The Lucifugous demon screamed and stumbled, his vision blinded. A grunt left him as he fell to his knees, the power pulsing from Cassius driving him to the ground.
It took a moment for the radiance surrounding Cassius’s Empyreal form to fade. The Lucifugous slowly lowered his hands from his eyes. He gaped at the white wings flaring high above him for a moment before hastily lowering his head to the ground, his body quaking as he prostrated himself in front of Cassius.
Cassius blinked, startled.
“Forgive me, oh Guardian of Light!” the demon quavered.
Cassius glanced at the others, too shocked to speak for a moment.
He hesitated before squatting in front of the Lucifugous. “Lift your head.”
The demon stayed put, shivers racking his giant frame.
Cassius reached out and gently tilted the Lucifugous’s chin up with his hand. “Lift your head, my friend.”
The demon blinked, his dark eyes flaring with surprise.
Cassius retracted his powers, confident the demon would not attack. The Lucifugous gasped as Cassius’s wings changed to black and red, gloom descending upon them once more as the brightness faded.
“Angel of Darkness and Blood,” the demon mumbled. “Savior of my people!”
Surprise shot through Cassius once more. He sensed Morgan and the others’ puzzled stares.
“What do you mean by that?” Cassius said.
“Helped my brethren across the seas,” the demon replied, his voice full of awe. “Green place. Eiriu.”
Cassius’s eyes widened. “You mean Ireland?”
The demon nodded vigorously. He grasped Cassius’s hand with both his own. “You kind. You good. You help. Kill.” He pressed Cassius’s fingers urgently to his chest. “Kill now!”
Cassius swallowed, memories stained with blood filling his mind.
Morgan landed beside him. “What’s he talking about, Cassius?”
A muscle twitched in Cassius’s jaw as he gazed at the Lucifugous.
“There was an incident on Beenkeragh Ridge, fifty years ago,” he said in a hard voice. “A band of wizards and witches went hunting after a herd of Lucifugous demons rumored to be living in the area. The demons were in the middle of their birthing season at the time. Over half of them were butchered with magic spears and arrows, including the female demons and their newborn babies. I helped the rest escape.”
Tears glistened in the demon’s eyes. His fingers twitched on Cassius’s hand. “You kind. You put end to suffering.”
“What does he mean?” Adrianne asked, her face pale.
Cassius could sense her and Bailey’s shock. The only people who hunted Lucifugous were human magic users and most did so because they considered the demons monsters who did not deserve to live, their hatred born simply of their distaste for their grotesque form.
Angels never participated in those hunts and neither did other demons.
Cassius struggled to keep his anger under control as he continued talking. “The demons the wizards and witches brought down didn’t die straight away. They were being tortured when I returned to their den.” An echo of power throbbed from his core, making the air shiver. He took a shuddering breath and contained his seraphic energy. “I put down the demons who wouldn’t have survived and saved those that I could.”
A deathly hush befell them.
“What did you do with the wizards and witches?” Bailey finally asked, anger underscoring his voice.
Cassius knew it wasn’t directed at him but at the men and women who had attacked the Lucifugous herd, just as he could tell Adrianne’s palpable fury was not intended for him.
“I buried them alive inside the mountain. It took them a week to get out of there.” A grim smile curved Cassius’s mouth. “I hear several of them were mauled by wolves while they were making their way back to civilization.”
“Good,” Adrianne said bitterly.
“Kill,” the Lucifugous mumbled. He pressed Cassius’s hand to his chest. “Kind. Good. Kill. Not want to be here. Not belong.”
Cassius’s heart clenched at the agony in the demon’s voice. In that moment, he wanted to rage at everything and everyone around him. He wanted to scream at the unfairness that had been visited on those who had landed on Earth all those years ago. Those who were deemed not to belong, like the Lucifugous and him.
A hand squeezed his shoulder.
Cassius grasped Morgan’s fingers, grateful for his touch and the echo of warm resonance between their soul cores. He knew Morgan could sense his fury and sorrow.
“None of us belong,” Cassius told the Lucifugous quietly. “We are all far away from the place where we are meant to be.” He curled his fingers around the Lucifugous’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You have every right to be alive. Every right to keep on living. Do not let this cruel world take that truth away from you and your kind. You are all God’s creatures. Your home may be in the Nine Hells, but it is also here, for now.”
Tears fell thickly down the demon’s face. Adrianne sniffed and wiped her cheeks. Julia cleared her throat, her eyes glistening suspiciously.
“You friend?” the Lucifugous mumbled.
Cassius smiled gently. “Yes. We’re friends. What’s your name?”
“Akamon,” the demon said shyly.
“You can call me Cassius, Akamon.”
“I’m Morgan.” Morgan pointed at the rest of his team. “That’s Julia, Zach, Adrianne, and Bailey.”
The demon’s eyes glazed over slightly. “Many names.”
Cassius chuckled. “You don’t have to remember all of them.”
“Will remember,” Akamon said dutifully.
“We have a favor to ask of you,” Cassius said. “Can you take us to see Bostrof Orzkal?”
Akamon startled and fell back on his behind, his eyes rounding. “Bostrof danger!”
“It’s okay, we can handle him,” Morgan said reassuringly.
Akamon hesitated. “Bostrof strong.” He glanced from Cassius to Morgan. “But you…strong too.”
“That’s right,” Adrianne nodded. She smacked her hand with her fist. “We can easily beat that Lucifugous up!”
“They strong.” Akamon indicated Morgan, Cassius, Julia, and Zach. “Bostrof have you for breakfast.”
He blinked at Adrianne and Bailey.
Julia snorted. Zach smiled.